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Over 160 North Korean poachers detained in Sea of Japan

The border guards injured in the attack in the Sea of Japan are in satisfactory condition, says the Federal Security Service
The Russian coastal guard Sergei Malgavko/TASS, archive
The Russian coastal guard
© Sergei Malgavko/TASS, archive

MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. Russian border guards have detained over 160 North Korean crewmembers from two poaching vessels in the Sea of Japan, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Public Relations Center told TASS on Wednesday. Some of the detained are injured.

"As a result of coordinated action by the coast guard, aviation and special purpose units, the border guards have detained 2 schooners, 11 motorboats, and 161 citizens of the DPRK. Several foreigners are injured, they have been provided with the required medical aid," the center informed.

The border guards have seized prohibited fishing gear as well as illegally obtained marine resources. "The offenders are being delivered to the port of Nakhodka for further action and procedural decision," the center added.

Meanwhile the state of four Russian border guards injured in the attack is satisfactory, the Center for Public Relations of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS. "The four injured employees of the border service are in satisfactory condition, and their lives are out of danger," the Center reported.

Earlier, Russia’s FSB Public Relations Center informed that the Russian border service had discovered two North Korean schooners and 11 motorboats that were poaching in the Russian exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan. One of the ships attacked the patrol group. Four officers of Russia’s FSB Border Service were injured in the attack, one of them sustained a gunshot wound, the Russian Investigative Committee’s press service told reporters on Wednesday. Both schooners were detained. The North Korean poachers are escorted to Russia's Far Eastern port of Nakhodka.

The Russian Investigative Committee reported that a criminal case was launched under Section 317 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Encroachment on the life of a law enforcement employee"). Forensic examinations were commissioned under the criminal case, and witnesses are being questioned. The Investigative Committee pointed out that now the fishery vessels and the North Korean citizens are being escorted to the place of examination for investigative operations.